13th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement | Nablus and Tulkarem, Occupied Palestine
By Team Nablus
Today, at around 8am, over thirty people from the Palestinian General Union of People with Disability marched through the city of Nablus to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Nakba.
Participants gather in Nablus before the march (Photo by ISM)People marching along al-Quds Street in Nablus (Photo by ISM)
After the march, a bus drove participants to Tulkarem where they were joined by approximately 40 more demonstrators. Together they continued the march through the city of Tulkarem. They sang and chanted slogans remembering the 1948 massacre and reclaiming the right of return.
Palestinian Scout’s band leading the demonstration (Photo by ISM)
Participant with sign symbolizing the Palestinians’ right of return (Photo by ISM)
Two young demonstrators participating in the march (Photo by ISM)
The marched finished at the Israeli Chemical factory on the outskirts of the city. Demonstrators hung Palestinian flags and flags calling for the right of return from the wall.
Protesters hang Palestinian flags on the wall of the illegal Israeli chemical factory (Photo by ISM)
Israeli soldiers invaded on Sunday the towns of Dir al-Ghsoun, Bal’a and Shewika, near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, installed several roadblocks and inspected the ID cards of dozens of residents.
Israeli soldiers invaded on Sunday the towns of Dir al-Ghsoun, Bal’a and Shewika, near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, installed several roadblocks and inspected the ID cards of dozens of residents.
Local sources reported that five armored Israeli military vehicles invaded Shewika area and installed a roadblock on its main road before stopping dozens of vehicles, and inspecting the ID cards of the drivers and passengers.
The sources added that four armored military vehicles invaded Bal’a town, east of Tulkarem, and installed a roadblock at its main junction that leads to Nablus and Tulkarem, before stopping vehicles and inspecting the ID cards of the residents.
The army also invaded Dir al-Ghsoun town, and drove around in its streets, before stopping and searching a number of vehicles.
The army is still heavily deployed around the invaded towns, and around several nearby towns, an issue that raises fear among the residents of the possibility of further invasions and attacks.
20 February 2011 | International Solidarity Movement
Eight young Palestinian men were arrested by the Israeli military yesterday in the village of Deir Al Ghusun, north of Tulkarem. Three of them remain in custody, Jala Anwar, Omar Abu Safa and Sohayb Abu Shakra, all aged 17 years. The teenagers were taking part in a protest against the illegal Israeli separation barrier when soldiers and the border police entered through the gate on foot and in army jeeps. The protesters were running away from the army, but the soldiers managed to grab and take eight young men from the crowd and detain them in their army jeeps. Activists tried to get between the soldiers and one of the youths in an attempt to protect him, but without success.
Protestors in Tulkarem
It is still unclear what will happen to the three boys who are still in Israeli custody, and the families have not been told there were they are being held.
Newly dedicated Rachel Corrie Street in Ramallah.On March 16th 2003, an Israeli bulldozer killed the American activist Rachel Corrie in Rafah, Gaza. Today, in Kafr Sur, near Tulkarem, and in Ramallah, family, friends and supporters gathered together to commemorate the anniversary of her murder.
Students of Kafr Sur Secondary School, who have been working on a research project about Rachel’s life and death, today marked the anniversary with a march to a memorial stone at the entrance to the village. The students were joined by children from the nearby primary school, as the stone was unveiled and speeches were delivered by the headmaster, one of the students, and an ISM activist.
A boy in Tulkarem smiles and holds photos of Rachel.Approximately fifty Palestinians, Internationals and media then joined Craig and Cindy Corrie, Rachel’s parents, for the inauguration ceremony of Rachel Corrie Street in Ramallah. Speeches were delivered by both the Mayor and Governor of Ramallah, the Minister of State, National Parties’ Coordinator, an ISM activist and Rachel’s parents.
At both events, speakers talked of the lasting impact left by Rachel, as an inspiration to those involved with the non-violent resistance in Palestine and across the world. Rachel’s mother spoke about how her daughter has become a symbol for the anti-Occupation movement, and of how grateful she and her family are to the Palestinians they have come to know and love over the past seven years for their unfailing support, despite the suffering they themselves continue to experience.
The coming weeks also mark the seventh anniversaries of the shootings of the British activist Thomas Hurndall, who was shot in the head whilst shielding children in Rafah from Israeli sniper fire, and who died in hospital nine months later, and Brian Avery, an American who was shot in the face in Jenin, but who mercifully survived. Last weekend saw the one year anniversary of Tristan Anderson being hit in the head with a high velocity tear gas canister in Nilin. Tristan is still recovering in an Israeli hospital.
The village of Shufa continues to struggle with restricted road access and no electricity grid connection, as a new road gate is established at the entrance to the village.
Israeli Occupation Forces established a new road gate at the entrance to Shufa village one week ago, enabling the military to restrict or forbid access to the village at any given time, by closing the gates. The gates are effectively – or at times a precursor to – a form of road block. A similar gate was constructed 2 days ago in the neighboring village of Seffarin at the intersection of the village’s road with an Israeli road. The increasing number of road gates in the region contribute to slowly creeping network of apartheid roads and restriction of movement for Palestinians living in the West Bank.
Shufa village has been split in half and isolated by road blocks and apartheid roads. The lower half of the village is about 8km from the city of Tulkarm but villagers cannot drive up the hill to their neighbours, less than 1km away. Earth mounds and concrete blocks stop vehicle access to the short stretch of ‘settlers only’ road, which used to link the two halves of the village.
The section of the village located on the hill was denied all road access for 6 years. Now there is only one road open, on the opposite side to Tulkarm, so that the villagers must now travel 22km through a checkpoint to get to the city 8km away. The blocked roads have been opened for only 3 and a half days in the last 8 years. Severe travel restrictions and delays have caused at least 3 deaths in the village due to refusal of access to Red Crescent ambulances trying to enter/exit Shufa.
The village is not allowed to connect to nearby power lines, forcing residents to run generators for a few hours a day. The system of road blocks have made the transport of supplies to the village incredibly problematic and expensive. Residents fear that even this may be stopped if the army decides to shut the gate on the open road.
A few hundred metres from the village lies the illegal settlement of Avne Hefez. It was originally built in 1985 on land belonging to Shufa. It has since expanded and spawned an outpost. The villagers now have to apply for permission to farm some of their own land. Even with permits they are often refused or scared off. According to residents of Shufa, many of the houses in the settlement appear to be empty or only used for holidays, or ‘part-time settlers’. A small military base is also located inside the settlement.
US Aid has funded a new school in Shufa, which could have been built with local engineers and labour for half the price, and given the local economy a much-needed boost. The new school comes complete with computers, but no electricity to run them.
